


Love at First Sight

by robinwritesallthethings



Series: Henry Cavill Characters [13]
Category: Whatever Works (2009)
Genre: Always Jane Austen, Anxiety, F/M, Loss of Virginity, Love at First Sight, Panic Attacks, Pregnancy, Romance, Self-Insert, Serial Killer Names, Sex is Only Mentioned There's No Smut, Speed Dating, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:34:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27032017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robinwritesallthethings/pseuds/robinwritesallthethings
Summary: Randy Lee James knows that Robin Ballard is the one for him, but he has to make her see it too.
Relationships: Randy Lee James/Original Female Character(s), Randy Lee James/Robin Ballard (robinwritesallthethings)
Series: Henry Cavill Characters [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925797
Kudos: 4





	Love at First Sight

He sits down in front of me and I smile reflexively, even though I have no idea who he is.

He’s very handsome. Tall, lean but muscular, with dark brown curls, bright blue eyes, and a sweet smile.

Certainly worth talking to. If I wanted to talk to someone.

“I have to know,” he starts, “why no one is speaking to the beautiful brunette at the end of the table, because she’s clearly the most wonderful person in the room.”

I blush, biting my lip and lowering my head slightly, staring into my coffee.

He reaches out and tips my chin back up with his fingers. His touch seems charged with electricity, and I shiver slightly.

“I realize I’m being forward,” he admits.

“But that’s not stopping you,” I reply, licking my lips self-consciously when my voice comes out a little more breathless than I’d like it to.

“No,” he confirms simply, grinning.

His whole face lights up, dazzling me, and I swear my heart skips a beat.

“Who are you?” I ask, hoping to distract him.

“Randy Lee James,” he introduces himself, moving his hand, holding it out so I can shake it.

I lean back in my chair and ignore it. I can’t help giggling at his name, though.

“Randy Lee James?” I repeat. “Are you a serial killer?”

He puts his hand over his heart and shakes his head like I’ve wounded him. “A serial killer? Such a bold accusation for a first meeting. Tell me, what are you basing your observation on?”

“Three names,” I tease, glancing up at him from under my lashes. “I read something once about how all serial killers have three names. John Wayne Gacy, for instance.”

“You should find cheerier reading material,” he suggests. “And you still haven’t answered my question.”

“No one’s talking to me because I’m just here to support a friend. I’m not doing the actual dating event. And I never would,” I add. “Speed dating is awful.”

“Why? If you don’t like someone, it’s over fast.”

“It’s impossible to get to know someone in that amount of time, Randy Lee James.”

“You’re not trying to get to know someone that fast,” he corrects me. “You’re looking for chemistry. The spark. Love at first sight.”

He pauses. “Don’t you believe in love at first sight?”

“Love at first sight doesn’t exist, Randy Lee James.”

His happiness fades slightly.

“Who hurt you?”

I shake my head. “Too many people to name,” I confess.

“I would never hurt you,” he promises.

I can tell that he means it. Perhaps if we’d met a few years ago, I would have given him a chance.

But I’ve given too many chances to risk my heart on one more.

“Time to move on, Randy Lee James,” I murmur.

“At least tell me your name,” he begs.

I shake my head. He stands and stares at me for a moment.

“We’ll see each other again.”

“I doubt that, Randy Lee James.”

“I don’t. Lovers always find each other.”

I don’t say anything. What is a person supposed to say to something like that?

He turns and leaves. I don’t bother checking to see where he goes.

He’s gone, and despite what he thinks, I’m never going to see him again.

****

I’m browsing the weekend street market. There’s a woman who always has amazing deals on books, and I want to see what she has that I haven’t read.

I’m eyeing some cozy mystery paperbacks when someone clears their throat beside me and politely asks, “Excuse me?”

I turn and my mouth falls open. Randy Lee James is standing there, looking more than a little smug. “I told you we’d meet again,” he reminds me.

Before I can reply, he holds out two books. “Which one would you prefer?” he wonders. “I can’t decide.”

I can’t resist a question about books, so I look at the titles. _Persuasion_ , by Jane Austen, and _Tess of the d’Urbervilles_ , by Thomas Hardy.

“Austen,” I answer immediately. “Always Austen. Hardy’s themes are interesting, but a little dark at the best of times.”

“I knew it,” he declares triumphantly, dropping the Hardy and keeping the Austen in his hand. “You still believe in love.”

“What?” I sputter, quickly looking away.

“Austen’s all about love, isn’t she? Why would you read her if you didn’t believe in it?”

“She’s just one of my favorite authors, is all,” I protest, crossing my arms over my chest defensively and turning to stare at him. “You don’t know me, Randy Lee James.”

“I know that you weren’t really in love with any of those people who hurt you,” he replies seriously. “They were just placeholders.”

I huff. “Why would the universe be that cruel?”

I wipe a tear from my eye, hoping he won’t notice. But he does, of course.

“They were getting you ready, Robin Laura Ballard. Teaching you what you wanted so that when I came along, you’d be ready.”

“How do you know my name?” I murmur.

“Your friend told me.”

“She’s a traitor.”

The woman who sells the books appears in front of us and asks if we’d like to buy anything. I shake my head, too anxious to decide. Randy holds up the Austen. He hands over a few bills, then opens the front cover, removing a pen from his bag and writing something on the first page.

Then he hands the book to me. “My number,” he offers. “Call me when you’re ready, Robin.”

My lips part slightly. I feel dizzy suddenly. “I think I’m going to faint,” I admit.

Instantly, his arms are around me. “I’ll hold you so you don’t fall, Robin.”

The tightness feels good against my panicking body. His book is crushed between us, and I swallow thickly, trying to take deep breaths.

Which only makes me realize how good he smells.

“I have been in love with you since I saw you months ago, Robin. I hope enough time has passed for you to want to explore that.”

“No, Randy. Listen, you’re very good-looking, but…”

“That’s not all there is to me, Robin. Please,” he begs, holding me tighter. “I live on a houseboat nearby. It’s very relaxing. Let me take you there.”

“You live on a boat?”

“Well, you see, I’m a bit of a romantic. So yes, I live on a boat. I read and think, often in the sun. Join me.”

“You’ve got quite the wrong impression of me if you think I’m going to do that, Randy.”

“At least let me walk you home. I want to make sure you get there safely.”

“I’m fine. I really have to go, Randy.”

I push away from him, just managing not to stumble. I find my way home automatically and draw a bath, making the water as hot as I can bear.

I open his book as I sink into the water, staring at the front page, memorizing his number, stroking the digits with my thumb over and over again.

I didn’t react the way I did because I’m afraid of him.

Whatever he feels, I feel it too.

And that terrifies me more than anything.

****

My speed dating friend is getting married, so I’m shopping for a dress to wear to the wedding. When I look up after rejecting one with purple ruffles, I see Randy Lee James, smiling as he makes his way over to me.

“So you just happened to be shopping in the same store as me, huh?” I ask archly.

He nods. “I was buying this shirt, if you must know. Do you like it?”

I eye the drab gray and the uninspired design and shrug. “It’s okay.”

“Just okay? I thought it made me look dashing.”

He slips it back onto the rack and glances at me. “You never called me, Robin.”

“I did,” I reply. “I just hung up as soon as you answered.”

“Ah, so you do think about me,” he teases. “Because I think about you. A lot.”

“Why did you call?” he asks. “And why did you hang up?”

“Because I thought I might let you take me out,” I tell him honestly. “But then I got scared.”

“Pros and cons,” he states. “Of being with me. Go.”

“You’ll decide something’s wrong with me,” I reply immediately.

“Impossible,” he retorts. “Next.”

“I don’t like most people. I’m not very social.”

“If you were with me, I’d definitely want to stay in, Robin.”

My cheeks pink and I slowly say, “I don’t have any experience… staying in.”

He steps closer and lowers his head until his lips are brushing my ear. It’s the third time he’s touched me, and it gets more thrilling each time.

“We can go as slow as you like. I’ll teach you.”

“I’m too smart,” I inform him.

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I like smart women.”

“You could do better than me, Randy Lee James.”

“No, I couldn’t, Robin.”

He says it so confidently, like it’s a fact.

“Come see my houseboat, Robin.”

“Is that really a good idea, Randy?”

“Of course it is. I dreamed about you last night,” he confesses. “We could make my dream come true.”

“That’s a line if I’ve ever heard one, Randy.”

He shakes his head. “Just the truth. Please come.”

He holds out his hand.

I gaze at it for a moment, then take it.

****

He holds my hand as we walk down the dock. “It’s up here on the right.”

He points, then goes in first, turning to make sure I get down the stairs okay.

“This is sweet,” I tell him. “Living on the water. I love the water.”

“It rocks just the tiniest bit, so I sleep like a baby on it,” he admits. “I bet you would too, Robin.”

“You want me to sleep like a baby when I’m in bed with you?” I wonder, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckles. “Only when we’re done.”

He winks and I sigh. “I’m broken, Randy.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t have feelings for you, Robin,” he assures me.

“You don’t really know me,” I protest.

“No, but I believe in love at first sight, remember?”

“Love, it just… isn’t logical,” I explain.

“Yet here you are, talking to me about it while you claim to not believe,” he observes. “You’re a contradiction. I love that about you already.”

He grabs two glasses off a nearby shelf. “Let’s drink to love at first sight,” he suggests.

“I don’t drink,” I tell him.

“Let’s not drink, then,” he agrees easily, setting the glasses down.

“You really are a gentleman, Randy,” I murmur.

Every other man I’ve ever met had been too impatient to wait for me.

“Thank you,” Randy says sincerely. “I’ll cherish that compliment.”

Then he leans in and kisses me.

It’s a quick, soft kiss, over much too soon, but it’s enough.

For so long, I’ve felt like something built a dam inside of me to hold the feelings back. With this one simple act, he’s breached it.

I sit down abruptly so I don’t fall over. He sits beside me.

“I do agree that there’s not much in this world that you can be sure of, Robin,” he admits. “But you can be sure of me.”

He slides his hand into my hair and kisses me again. And again. And again.

I wrap my arms around his shoulders, stroking the curls at the back of his neck. He smiles against my lips.

Then we’re kissing feverishly. I whimper and he lifts me up, carrying me to the bed against the opposite wall and sitting down with me in his lap.

“If you want to stop, Robin, all you have to do is say so,” he assures me. “It doesn’t matter when.”

I nod. “Don’t stop yet, Randy.”

I never ask him to.

Not when he lays me down underneath him on the bed.

Not when he carefully takes off my clothes.

Not when he starts to kiss my breasts.

And not when he pushes gently inside me.

He holds me tenderly and makes love to me until I see stars.

After, I stare up at him. He stares back, beaming at me, cupping my cheek in his big hand, stroking my cheekbone with his thumb.

“Did I hurt you, Robin?”

I shake my head. “No, Randy.”

“I promised I wouldn’t.”

“I’ve never felt like that before,” I confess.

“Felt like what?”

“Safe. Ready. No one’s ever waited for me before, Randy.”

“I would have waited as long as it took, Robin.”

“What happens now?”

“We love each other, Robin.” He leans down and kisses me. “Again.” Another kiss. “Again.” Another kiss. “Always and forever.”

“What if I’m still scared, Randy?”

“I’ll show you that there’s no reason to be. Every single day, if I have to.”

I take a deep breath and nod. “All right.”

He kisses me again. I kiss him back.

I’m afraid to fall, but I know that, this time, he’s here to catch me.

****

He’s holding me on the deck of the boat as we stare at the stars, stealing kisses every few words.

“The house will be ready next month,” he tells me.

“I’ll probably be showing by then.”

“I can’t wait. Just in time for the party too.”

He kisses me again, gazing at me with all the happiness in the world in his eyes.

“Thank you,” I murmur.

“For what, Robin?”

“For tripling up on the party,” I remind him.

“Ah. New Year’s Eve, anniversary, and baby announcement all in one. No need for separate celebrations, since I know they’re not your favorite thing.”

“I love you, Randy Lee James.”

“I love you, Robin Laura James.”

He smiles giddily and kisses me one more time.

****

I’m sitting in Randy’s lap, wrapped up in his arms. His head is pressed to my chest, and his big hand is splayed out over the new curve of my belly.

“I can’t believe you’ve only been together for a little over a year,” my speed dating friend observes. “It’s like you’ve known each other forever.” She pauses. “I still think it’s not fair that you got proposed to after me and married before me, by the way.”

Randy laughs. “Well, I knew I lucked out with this one. She was meant to be mine. I had to make it official as soon as possible.”

“Maybe you were meant to be mine,” I retort playfully.

“I love it when you’re sassy,” he remarks, leaning up to kiss me.

“So do you two want a boy or a girl?” someone else chimes in.

Randy briefly kisses my belly. “We want a healthy baby,” he replies.

I nod in agreement.

“Besides,” he adds, “we’ll just keep trying until we have one of each.”

“Oh, that’s the plan, is it? When were you going to tell me?” I tease.

The conversation ends as the countdown begins on the TV. Randy helps me up and I lean against him, his arm around me.

When it reaches one, he turns to me, cups my face in his hands, and kisses me. It’s a gentle kiss, but it’s filled with so many emotions.

He pulls back just enough to whisper, “Happy New Year. Happy anniversary. I love you. I love our baby.”

Around us, everyone is hugging and kissing and shaking hands. But they leave us alone.

I rest my back against his chest. He props his chin on top of my head, his hands roaming over my belly soothingly.

It’s hard to believe that I wasn’t willing to give him a chance once, because now I wouldn’t give him up for the world.


End file.
